Despite its challenges, Jeff Bezos is by no means out of love with news media, disclosing plans to save the Washington Post “a second time” in a recent interview.
“When they need financial resources, I am available – I am the doting parent in that regard,” he told Andrew Ross Sorkin in a closing interview at the New York Times Dealbook Summit quoted by the Hollywood Reporter.
Amazon boss Bezos acquired the Washington Post for US$250 million in 2013, but has struggled to turn it around, and recent months have seen the announcement of redundancies, including voluntary buyouts for 240 staffers and a 25 per cent cut in numbers at tech arm Arc XP. The Washington Times reported last month that Post employees enjoying flexible work schedules introduced during the pandemic are to return to the office full time in February.
At the Dealbook Summit, Bezos told Sorkin he had “a bunch of ideas, and I am working on that right now.
“We saved the Washington Post once, this will be the second time. It needs to be put back on a good footing again.”
Bezos and the Post have also been in the news over his decision to end presidential endorsements, and he told Sorkin “the erosion of trust that the media was facing” made it a necessary but difficult decision. “You can’t do the wrong thing because you are worried about bad PR,” he added.
Pictured: Jeff Bezos with Andrew Ross Sorkin (photo Washington Post)